Panem Elementary
by mockinjay14
Summary: Katniss, Peeta, Gale, Finnick, and Annie, along with other characters from The Hunger Games are in the 3rd grade. Watch as they get into all kinds of adventures at Panem Elementary School. I don't own The Hunger Games or any of it's characters.
1. Chapter 1

**This story takes place in 2007.**

Help From a Professional

It was an average school day at Panem Elementary and 's 3rd grade class was enjoying their recess. Katniss Everdeen, Gale Hawthorne, Peeta Mellark, Annie Cresta, and Finnick Odair always spent recess together, and more often than not got themselves into trouble. Today was one of those days...

The group of 3rd graders sat under their favorite tree to met at in the playground. They called it the cheese tree because Annie really loved cheese. They usually didn't play on the equipment like the other students they had each other and their imaginations to keep themselves entertained. They were playing war, chasing each other and playing dead when they got "shot." Gale was in pursuit of Katniss, getting closer and closer. That's when Katniss looked at the cheese tree and got an idea. She quickly scaled the tree and looked down at her friends.

"That's not any fair, Katniss!" Gale called up to her.

"You're just jealous 'cause you can't climb as good as me." Said Katniss.

"I can climb trees!" Gale insisted. "I'm a professional tree climber."

"Really?" Finnick smirked. "Then why don't you climb the tree and get her?"

Gale looked at his friends. "Because... because I-"

"I dare you." Finnick crossed his arms. He knew Gale would have to climb the tree now, you can't back out of a dare. Gale looked up at Katniss. He'd never gotten that far up a tree before. "Unless you're chicken."

"I can climb this tree, no problem." Gale said and started climbing.

"Maybe you both should get down," Peeta said. "I'm sure the bell is gonna ring soon."

"I'm almost there." Gale said pulling himself onto the last branch and sitting down next to Katniss. "See."

"Good job," Katniss smiled. "But can you get down?"

"Of course I can get down." Gale said.

"Okay." Katniss stood up and climbed down with ease.

Gale looked down. How was he going to get down? He'd never climbed up this high before. "Oh..." Gale said under his breath.

"Gale?" Annie called from below. "Are you stuck?" Finnick and Katniss snickered.

"No." Gale frowned and tried to get down, but he didn't know which branches to climb on.

"Do you need me to get help?" Peeta asked.

"No!" Gale said. He didn't want anyone else to know he was stuck in a tree. "Don't get anyone, please."

"It's okay, Gale." Katniss said. "Maybe we should get help."

"I can do it myself." He stared at the ground. What if he fell? What if he broke a bone? Then the school bell rang, signifying that recess was over.

"Are you sure?" Finnick asked.

"Yeah, go to class." He said. "I just need time."

So they left Gale up I the cheese tree and walked back into the school. "I think we should tell Mrs. Sae." Peeta told his friends.

"Gale said not to tell." Katniss frowned. "He'll find a way down... eventually."

They walked into their classroom, trying to act normal. "Okay class," Mrs. Sae said as students took their seats. "Welcome back. Did you have a good recess?"

"Yes." Finnick answered with a sly grin.

Mrs. Sae narrowed her eyes a the 9 year old trickster. "Oh, really? What did you do?"

"We played catch." Finnick lied.

"Well," Mrs. Sae returned to her desk to take attendance. "I'm glad you had a good break." She scanned the room and realized one of her students was missing. "Where is Gale?" She asked, and a few students looked around nervously. Mrs. Sae moved to stand at Finnick's side. "Do you know where Gale is?"

"No, I was playing catch." Finnick shrugged.

Mrs. Sae huffed in frustration and moved to the next desk over. "What about you, Miss Everdeen? Do you know where Gale is?"

Katniss looked up from here desk, her eyes flashed with fear. "Um... no."

"You don't?" Mrs. Sae put her hand on her hip. "But don't you usually spend recess with Gale?"

"Not today..." Katniss pulled at her braids. "Madge wanted me to play with her."

"No I didn't!" Madge said from the other side of the room. "And you were with Gale and Peeta and Finnick too. I saw you myself."

Katniss scowled at Madge then looked back at her teacher. "Finnick liked too! And he knows where Gale is."

"No I don't!"

"Yes you do."

"No I don't."

"Yes, you-"

"If neither of you are going to tell Mrs. Sae where Gale is then I will." Peeta interrupted the argument.

"Peeta, you promised-" Finnick started.

"Gale needs our help," Peeta crossed his arms.

"Where is Gale?" Mrs. Sae asked Peeta gently.

"He... he..." Peeta stuttered. "He's stuck in a tree on the playground."

Mrs. Sae frowned. "Okay, class, let's see if we can get Gale down without alerting the Principle." She followed the children to a tree on the far side of the playground and sure enough found Gale stranded on a far up branch. He frowned down at the students.

"I told you guys not to tell anyone I was stuck up here." He shouted.

"Hold on Gale, I'll get you down from there." Mrs. Sae called.

"I can get him," Katniss offered. "I'm a good climber."

"When you get up there how are you going to get him down?" Mrs. Sae questioned.

"I'll think of something," Then Katniss ran to the tree and started climbing before Mrs. Sae could stop her.

"Katniss, get down from there," Mrs. Sae ran to the tree but Katniss was already out of reach. "I don't need two of my students stuck up a tree."

"I won't get stuck," Said Katniss. "I'm a professional."

"That sounds a lot like what Gale said," Finnick called up.

"Shut up Finnick." Gale called down.

Katniss quickly got to Gale and smirked at him. "Need a hand?"

"You promised not to tell," Gale hissed at her.

"I didn't tell." Katniss rolled her eyes.

"Peeta." Gale said. "Of course."

"He was just trying to help you." Katniss shrugs. "I'm going to help you down, just do what I do."

"I don't need your help."

"Clearly you do." Katniss motioned for Gale to follow here. "Come on."

Katniss and Gale moved slowly down slowly down the tree, Gale had to stop a few times to gather his bearings but eventually with Katniss' help Gale reached solid ground.

Mrs. Sae crossed her arms. "Why did you climb that tree Gale? The playground had many rules and there was a rule against climbing trees.

"Finnick dared me to," Gale said with a pointed glare.

"No I didn't." Finnick denied.

"Yes you did."

"No I didn't."

"Yes-"

"Let's go back to class," Mrs. Sae interrupted and herded the children back into the building.

 **I wanted to post this short story in honor of my little sister starting high school today. I wrote this story back in April this year right before I graduated from high school. I was really feeling nostalgic for my time at elementary school and wanted to see what would happen to these characters if I made them nine years old. I am considering making this a multi chapter story, so if you want me to continue this please tell me in the reviews and follow this story. Thank you so much for reading, and I hope those of you who are starting school soon have a good school year.**


	2. Chapter 2

Trust In a Friend

Everyday, Mrs. Sae had to bring her students to their special classes. She would herd her class in a single file line and drop them off with a different teacher they saw for an hour each week. Everyday they went to a different special class. Monday was art, Tuesday was PE, Wednesday was computer, Thursday was music, and Friday was library. Peeta Mellark liked Thursdays the least because he was far from being musically inclined and he would always get embarrassed when he had to sing or play an instrument in front of the class. It probably wouldn't bother him that much if Katniss Everdeen wasn't in his class.

Katniss had a beautiful voice, she was a natural at singing. Her voice was so lovely that even the birds stopped to listen to her. Even the ways she talked had a melodic ring to it. Her voice was the first thing he noticed about her when they first met in Kindergarten, and just like that he was a goner. He swore he would marry her one day, but he could count on one hand the number of times he actually talked to her until Finnick Odair moved to town and befriended both of them along with Gale Hawthorne and Annie Cresta. They quickly became best friends. Now Peeta felt comfortable talking to Katniss but for some reason he thought Katniss would judge him based off of his music capabilities.

Today in music, the class had to practice playing 'Deep In The Meadow' on the piano, and in two weeks each student was to play the song for the class. Their music teacher, Miss Cashmere had a whole room of keyboards for the kids to practice on. They had to keep their headphones plugged into the machine so only they could hear how they sounded. Peeta liked playing the piano during free time, he didn't have a clue what he was doing but he enjoyed playing with it to see what sounds he could make. But he couldn't do that today, today he had to practice the song and get it perfect so that Katniss wouldn't see how bad he was at the piano. He got more and more frustrated by each failed attempt at the song, and then he felt a tap on his shoulder. He took his headphones off and looked over.

"Do you need help?" Katniss asked.

Peeta froze. He could definitely use some help at playing an actual melody, and Katniss was one of the most musically inclined in the whole class, so she was probably the best person to get help from besides Miss Cashmere, but she was also the one person he would be truly embarrassed to play in front of. Either way Katniss would hear how awful he was. It was a lose, lose situation.

"I'm not good at instruments!" He complained. "And I'm not a good singer either. It's really embarrassing."

Katniss crossed her arms. "My dad says nobody is good at everything."

"You are."

"No I'm not." She laughed. "I'm not any good at art." She sat down next to him. "And you're really good at art."

"But... it's embarrassing!"

"Don't be embarrassed, I'm your friend."

Peeta felt his cheeks heat up. Katniss was right, things have changed since Finnick moved to Panem. He was friends with Katniss. Why should it be more embarrassing to play the piano in front of Katniss Everdeen then it would be to play in front of Finnick or Annie or Gale? She was going to hear him play anyway, wouldn't it be better to just get help from her and try to improve the song?

"Okay," Peeta smiled. "You can help me."

"Good."

Katniss helped him play the song over and over again, and he could hear himself getting better. He got more confident and wasn't afraid to play the song in front of the class anymore. All he needed was practice and some trust in a friend.

 **I'm sorry it took so long for me to write this chapter, I've been really busy with another story I'm gonna post next year, but I've got an outline for this story. It's going to be a collection of shorts taking place during 3rd grade and each chapter will have it's own story line. This one is a lot shorter than my last chapter because I felt like this one needed to be short and sweet, I do have some other chapters planned that should be longer. Anyway I hope you guys liked this chapter, I'm going to try to post the next one sooner.**


	3. Chapter 3

Little Lies

Annie Cresta had always been fascinated with the idea of having a twin sister. She had an older brother, but he was eight years older than her and was starting his senior year of high school. Annie suspected he didn't like her very much. She wanted a twin so bad but she knew it was impossible, she was nine years old, she couldn't suddenly have a twin sister just because she wanted to have one. She was pretty sure it didn't work that way. It wasn't fair!

Annie got an idea. Her twin would look exactly like her. She could tell her friends she had a twin and then change clothes in the bathroom and pretend to be her own twin. Her plan was foolproof. That night Annie picked out two outfits and put one in her backpack. She ran over to her friends the next day, excited to tell her friends about her twin.

"Hey Annie." Finnick waved her over.

"Hi guys," Annie grinned.

"What are you smiling about?" Gale asked.

"I'm just happy," Annie shrugged. "Have you guys met my sister?"

"I thought you only had an older brother." Peeta frowned. "Did your mom have a baby?"

"No, I have a twin." Annie put her hands on her hips.

"Oh really?" Gale smirked. "What's her name?"

"Sofia." She blurted out.

"Why haven't we met her before than?" Finnick questioned.

"She's new to this school." The bell rang, signaling that it was time for class. Annie was anxious for lunch to start. She felt a bit bad about lying to her friends, but now that she'd had this idea, she really wanted it to work. It was just a few little lies anyway. It wouldn't hurt her friends in anyway. When the class was finally dismissed from class Annie scarfed down her meal, sprinted to the bathroom and quickly changed to meet her friends on the playground as her twin,

"Hey Annie." Finnick waved.

Katniss squinted at her. "Did you changed clothes?"

"No." Annie frowned. "I'm not Annie, I'm her twin." Annie strained her memory to remember what she'd said her name was. "Sofia."

"We've been to your house, Annie." Gale said. "We know you don't have a twin."

"You haven't seen me before because I used to live with my dad." Annie lied. "I just moved in with my mom, and started school here."

"Annie-" Peeta started.

"I'm not Annie!" She protested. She was starting to get frustrated. Even if her friends didn't think she was her twin, couldn't they play along? Why did they have to take the fun out of everything?

"Prove you're Annie's twin." Gale crossed his arms. "We can't know for sure unless we see both of you together."

"I don't have to prove anything to you!" Annie ran away from her friends. Why couldn't they just play along?"

"Annie, wait!" Finnick called after her. She didn't even look back.

She wanted to go to the cheese tree. It was her spot before she met her friends. She used to sit under it for her entire recess, watching the other children play, and wishing she could join, but never daring to. Annie had always been extremely shy, she'd opened u[ a lot since Finnick Odair moved to Panem. She had friends for once. The cheese tree was her favorite spot on the whole playground and she couldn't go to it. Her friends would find her. She ran to the equipment instead. The jungle gym was full of places to hide. She picked a tunnel and crawled inside. Finally, in the safety of the tube, she let herself cry.

She felt like an idiot. Of course her friends wouldn't think she was her twin. Of course they'd ask to see her and her twin at the same time. Her friends weren't idiots, and she couldn't be two different people at the same time. What would her friends think of her now? Would they make fun of her? Annie put her face in her knees. She didn't want to show her face again. Would anyone notice if she stayed in there the rest of the day and didn't go back to class? Her teacher Mrs. Sae had noticed Gale was missing when he got stuck up the cheese tree. People would notice if Annie didn't go back.

"Annie?" A voice called. She held her breath. Finnick was looking for her. Annie was glad he cared but she was too embarrassed to face him again. She hoped he wouldn't find her and move on. Then she heard someone crawling toward her in the jungle gym. The bronze haired boy stuck his head into the tube. Annie could see the concern on his face. "There you are," Finnick crawled toward her and sat down with her. "Why are you crying?"

Annie's lip quivered. "I... I feel stupid."

"Don't." He reached over and wiped the tears from her face. "It's not a big deal... Why did you say you had a twin, anyway?" Annie shrugged. "It's okay. I won't tell anyone else.

She took a deep breath. "I don't know. I just wanted a twin. It's dumb."

"It's not dumb."

"The others are gonna tease me about it." She sniffed.

"They won't." He said. "I'll make sure of that."

"But-"

"You were just playing pretend. That's normal." He interrupted her. "So, do you want to go back out there?"

"No." Annie shook her head. "I just want to sit in here for the rest of recess."

"Okay." Finnick took Annie's hand and spent the rest of recess trying to make her laugh.

 **I hope you guys liked this short. I'd like to apologize for taking so long to post it, I started college this August and I'm still trying to balance writing with my school work. This one was really difficult for me to write because it came from an embarrassing childhood memory where I attempted to do the same thing as Annie (with about as much luck as she did). I don't know why I decided to do this, I guess I really wanted my friends to think I had a twin. I'm almost positive I'm going to be posting to this story again this month because I have a Halloween special planned, so look out for that. I would really appreciate it if you could leave me your thoughts on this piece in the reviews. They're the only way I know if you guys actually like this story. Have a great week!**


	4. Chapter 4

It Was The End Of A Decade, But The Start Of An Age

Everything must someday come to an end. Nothing was meant to last forever. Nobody can stay a child forever. One day everyone must wake up and realize the responsibilities that come with being an adult. Nobody can stay a child forever, but that doesn't mean they have to give up their child-like wonder, that doesn't mean they have to give up their imagination, their optimism, their joy, that doesn't mean they have to give up on their dreams.

Today was the end of a story for the children who attended Mrs. Sae's fifth grade class eight years ago. Today was the end of their public schooling. Through the years, Katniss, Peeta, Finnick, Annie, and Gale stayed friends. Their friendship somehow survived the awkward middle school years, and high school drama. They felt like everything they've ever done in their lives had led them to this moment. High School Graduation.

Katniss Everdeen watched as the people she grew up with received their diplomas, unlocking the next chapter of their lives. She wished each and everyone one of them good luck. They would need it. The real world was a tricky thing. Katniss was going to stay in Panem to help her mother and her little sister get by. Finnick was going to the Hollywood to pursue an acting career, Gale got a scholarship for football on the other side of the country, Annie was going to become a teacher, and Peeta wanted to stay in Panem to help at the bakery (he totally only stayed because of Katniss). Things were going to change for their group, but they promised to stay in touch.

They were afraid of moving on. They were excited for what was next.

 **You guys, I'm really sorry if you were looking forward to that Halloween special I mentioned for this story. I started it and everything but I couldn't get around to finishing it, college is hard. I have decided to end this story here because writing updates to this story felt like a chore, I had no passion for this story, and I just couldn't force myself to do that, writing fanfiction is supposed to be fun. I am so sorry if I have let any of you down. That being said, this was always supposed to be the end of this story, (I just skipped to it a lot sooner than planned) and I'm really happy with how it turned out. The chapter title came from a line from Long Live by Taylor Swift (speaking of Taylor Swift, I may or may not be updating Enchanted very soon, go check that out if you love Taylor Swift and Everlark). I am also currently writing a new Everlark Trilogy that I'm so excited about and can't wait to share with you, If you are interested in that please follow me so you can know when it comes out. Please let me know if you liked this final chapter in the reviews.**


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